saveasteading

There is a common misunderstanding. A bco is no replacement for quality control and expert management. They do spot checks and concentrate on certain issues. Saying that drains look ok does not mean they are. Signing off the job does not mean it isn't full of unseen or even concealed problems. The fabrication of steel is not something they are trained for. If one says nothing it doesn't mean it is ok. If the next one says he has concerns then so should you and get it looked at. The SE should be looking at the steel, or the Architect at a push. The best bco i engaged was private. It meant we got the same person every project, whichever council it came under. I had far more issues with LAs when we tried them again, mostly claiming there were problems when there werent; I think an arrogance from authority over little builders. Not all of course and they all recanted. Unnecessary? Looks like you have had issues! But that does remind me of a couple.

It heats the air directly isntead of the floor or radiators. It was for its time. Not now. And commercial targets were lower than domestic.

And it was simply underpowered for an office, and 15 years ago.

I changed a hot water tank last year. One of these Of course I dismantled the old one for interest. Out of it came 100mm of lime and a rotten element. Meanwhile we are drinking this in the cold. Good for the bones perhaps. It did show that any inline filter would clog very quickly so should only be at the kitchen cold tap and easy to change. In our highland project the water comes from a hillside spring. No lime, tastes good, haven't analysed it yet.

As ST says. Air to water to air requires an additional fan, or several, using more power. On the other hand it has a quicker response so may be used less...which doesn't show in the COP. We had a big system in our self build office block. It worked well enough. An extra bonus was a quick warm up on Monday mornings, and off ASAP. If it had been underfloor, the windows would have been opened half the day to lose the captured heat.. And practically, there was an electric heater in-line for extremes and the effect was very quick which is good for morale. Wasn't so good on cooling, and I never worked out why.

Agreed, i think these principles transfer, but not until the last knockings of negotiation, as it is a few% In business we got a lot off the little subbies to whom cash flow was critical...they were used to being treated badly and waiting a long time for payment. Payment fortnightly and within 5 days could be worth 10% on the labour. You have to be very careful not to overpay though. But on our personal Highland project it seemed almost a statement of principle that the contractors would wait for the money monthly, "like bigger businesses do". Paying for the materials transfers risk from them to you and so has a high value. Needs thinking about. But the average small contractor doesn't have much buying power and perhaps you are better at shopping around. Watch out for overordering and waste. Some clients like to play at being big players. Never worked for me. Neither do you want to seem naive. Just be yourself I say, and they will like you or not.

This is usually mundane stuff like possible field margins or old footimgs. Laying over the area doesn't prevent future investigation so will be ok.

The 'Road to Errogie' and beyond . I spoke to a prospective builder who regarded Aviemore sort of area as the centre of everything. He worked there, and around inverness and to Skye. Very impressed with him, but does whole packages only whereas we didn't need and couldn't afford that. Most want to be within 40 minutes of home though, and that reaches Inverness. Architect was in the family so I can't help there.

Welcome. Can i suggest restarting your presence with an alias? All discussion here is public ( googling terms will expose all discussion to the world.) Your tendering builders could read it all. Burglers could see the best time to visit. Planning strategy exposed to the world. Those reading now will forget. The good news is that disabled friendly access and minimum room sizes are standard in the Scottish regs, so won't cause panic or cost.

No, there is a vast variation. What the main dealer car showrooms specify is a 2 part epoxy that goes down several mm thick. When it fails ig comes up like vinyl flooring. It costs about £60/m2. Or there is middle market stuff about £40/m2. All a bit excessive for the purpose. All it has to do is stop oil from soaking into the concrete. As my motor clients said, our vehicles don't drip oil. So when they had a choice we used single part floor paint at about £20/m2. All probably gone up 50% since then. The cheap stuff worked fine then, after a couple of years of commercial use, they touched up abrasion at doorways. I'm sure the cheaper kind will work for you. Watco is the go-to name for concrete repair and paint. But I think you should find cheaper.

Yes, but that is probably for the best if it prevents poor quality basements being built. On a big site perhaps the earth is disposed of easily. But digging out town earth and dumping it in the countryside is only good for the farmer, and that only in the very short term. I wasn't aware people were using brick or block or eps for it. No wonder they don't work.

That probably means permanent access. But you wouldn't want to be digging it up again if it is a significant length.

Not that I have read them.. it seems obvious that a new build basement should be waterproof from outside, but that internal measures are allowed to remedy existing leaky basements. Think swimming pool and would you waterproof that on the inside: yes of course. As well as keeping the water entirely where it should be and not keeping the concrete wall and base constantly wet, there is the effect of water pressure on the membrane. The water pressure trying to force the membrane off the wall or onto it. There is always a doubt that BS are not entirely logical, because the committees include proper experts but from companies with a product to sell. Ask me about "Constrado" as an example if anyone is interested.

You can also hire conveyors to shift the stone if it can't be dumpered. But a tracked excavator won't disappear and could form its own track in. Any reason against a stone access, apart from cost?

OK, so you are being told to hire a boom pump. A hopper pump will do it.

I didn't know it was ever a principle for a new basement. . Like letting a dam or swimming pool leak but catching the water! It's obvious, but maybe not to the academics changing the codes. I think I've only done one basement, and I had no thought of including a sump, 'just in case'.

Oops my comment went into the quote box and is etaying there. Also, a concrete pump doesn't have to be a boom, if you can get round the obstructing building. Or bring in 4 barrowers for the occasion.

Why do you need a cavity in the foundation? My default is concrete bed then 2 normal blocks. The 2 beds gives more chance to get the lebeks right.

Made mine now too. It's what we do on bh, saving the nation millions, £100 at a time.

Our project is Nairnish. Invernesshire is huge, so a little more idea of location? NSEW? Mountain high or coast? Etc.

So do I but it is 6m x 6m. Take away the 4 corners that it can't reach....

Or concrete then epoxy paint, that is done in most commercial garages.

I always found that it needed the right current ethos from the merchant , but also the right manager. Example. We had an account with Travis, so approached the branch local to the projuct for blocks. A lot of blocks. We knew the right price but they refused to reduce it. It was cheaper at b &q, delivered. Our base TP also gave a better price by far. We ordered from b and q, and the blocks were delivered by .....local TP, who must have paid b&q a commission. What they were playing at we never found out. Jewsons. Bag of 100 big washers £8. Presumably cost them about £5. Needed more in a hurry and went to another depot. £35 less 10%. I complained and got a full rebate but that was the time to change, to TP as it happened. Then after 6 years to MKM. It really is down to relationships. You don't have to be expert to be treated fairly. My family doing our conversion are not from construction, yet have a great relationship with the local merchant. They will occasionally not quite be cheapest but the service! I was there when they had an error in the timber delivery. They came back in 2 hours with the right stuff. Visit every merchant. Talk to the sales manager, with drawings to prove the project size. Discuss the first order and get quotes. Compare but also look online and ask here.

Genius. Allow plenty of isolation to stop it rattling the walls.

Put 4 professional estimators to price a fully designed project for 4 specialst contractors and you will get a variation of perhaps 20%. Allow for less well defined design methods, unknown (to them) site conditions and that could typically be another 20% variation. A spreadsheet could be anything from one line. "Provide building as drawn...£250,000", to many hundreds of items. My own project spreadsheet had very broad items such as ....new concrete floor complete 310m2. @ £45, Roof 310m2@ , rainwater drainage 110m.@ Plumbing and heating, sum £60,000 etc. 20 doors @ £200. Etc.. About 100 items. Then add risk. But you have to know what cost to put in each item. Unless you have commercial construction knowledge i think someone elses spreadsheet could give a dangerous sense of security. So, sorry, you can't have mine. Pay someone as above, but even then assume it is very approximate. If you search here for £/m2 guidance you will find a vast range (£1500 /m2 to £4,000/m2. Sometimes a conversion costs more than newbuild. If you can share more specific info on a property then people here might offer guesses at the budget.